Several WMCHealth physicians were among the honorees recognized for their contributions to the field of medicine at the recent Doctors of Distinction award banquet hosted by the Westchester County Business Journal.
Michael Gewitz, MD, William Russell McCurdy Physician-in-Chief at Maria Fareri Children's Hospital, was honored with a Lifetime Achievement Award in recognition of his devotion to caring for pediatric patients and their families in the Hudson Valley since the early 1980s, with many of his once-pediatric patients now being thriving young adults.
As the chief of pediatric cardiology since 1983 and director of pediatrics at Westchester Medical Center since 1988, Dr. Gewitz played a key role in the movement to build Maria Fareri Children's Hospital in 2004 and continues to lead the children's hospital as it provides lifesaving care more than 30,000 patients each year.
Westchester Medical Center's heart transplantation team was also recognized with the Team Award in recognition of their strong collaboration to make a lifesaving difference. Part of WMCHealth's Heart and Vascular Institute and the only multi-organ transplant center between New York City and the Canadian border, the heart transplantation program has performed more than 270 lifesaving heart transplants since its inception, and 38 last year alone.
The WMCHealth Heart and Vascular Institute's comprehensive heart transplantation program uses a team approach to care for patients, combining the clinical expertise and compassionate care of surgeons, cardiologists, transplant coordinators, social workers, anesthesiologists, psychiatrists, pharmacists, nutritionists and other staff members to care for all aspects of the patient's well-being.
The heart transplantation program at Westchester Medical Center is led by David Spielvogel, MD, Chief of Cardiothoracic Surgery and Surgical Director for Heart Transplantation and Alan Gass, MD, Medical Director of Heart Failure, Heart Transplantation and Mechanical and Circulatory Support. Key team members also include transplant cardiologists Chhaya Aggarwal-Gupta, MD, Gregg Lanier, MD, and Elliot Levine, MD; transplant surgeons Ramin Malekan, MD, Masashi Kai, MD, and Joshua Goldberg, MD; transplant infectious disease physicians Abhay Dhand, MD, Rajat Nog, MD, and Bettina Knoll, MD, and transplant psychiatrist Martha Gamboa, MD.
CLICK HERE to read more about the Doctors of Distinction program.
Westchester Medical Center's Heart Transplantation Team
